Lynas chief defends Malaysia due diligence

Lynas Corporation
chairman
Nick Curtis
has fiercely defended criticism that he failed to do “the necessary political and social due diligence" before selecting Malaysia as the best site for the company’s $800 million rare earths refinery.

Lynas was yesterday cleared to start commissioning the refinery in Kuantan province after a local court denied an application by protest group Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas! for an injunction against the temporary operating licence granted to the company in September. But public opposition to the project in Malaysia has already led to it being delayed by more than 12 months.

The Australian Financial Review’s Chanticleer column wrote on Wednesday that Mr Curtis had been “quick to grab the tax breaks Malaysia offered but he failed to do the necessary political and social due diligence", criticism he felt was unfair.

“Conveniently retrofitting the current political environment in Malaysia to apply to a decision taken six years ago at best fails the test of history and logic," he wrote in a letter to the paper.

Mr Curtis said the protests had been incited by an Opposition politician, Fuziah Salleh.